most underrated British punk band?

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I nominate the Jam. I just got "Sound Affects" on vinyl and it is sweet. It confirms my asseration that they may have been the best of the bunch but no one here in the states knows anything about 'em. Any other nominations?

― Jack, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:09 (twenty years ago)

television personalities?

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:16 (twenty years ago)

Sham 69

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:20 (twenty years ago)

Sham 69 was my first thought too.

― moley (moley), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:24 (twenty years ago)

The Undertones

― Cunga (Cunga), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:35 (twenty years ago)

i thought the undertones were irish

― gem (trisk), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:36 (twenty years ago)

ireland is part of great britain!

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:38 (twenty years ago)

Undertones ARE Irish. Ireland is a Europe, it that counts

― Voodoo Child, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:38 (twenty years ago)

ireland is part of great britain!

ummm that's like saying new zealand is part of australia. although the undertones were from northern ireland so i suppose technically they would have british passports etc. however i rather think they identified themselves as irish.

― gem (trisk), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:46 (twenty years ago)

The Sound

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:53 (twenty years ago)

I found a Sham 69 album too...I haven't gotten a chance to listen to that one yet though.

― Jack, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:54 (twenty years ago)

The Deviants

http://www.pooterland.com/index2/bandsmenu/bands_d/PTOOF.jpg

― Voodoo Child, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 04:58 (twenty years ago)

The Homosexuals!

― Douglas (Douglas), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 05:00 (twenty years ago)

I'm too drunk to address this question in the manner I'd like to (fuck you, softball), but suffice it to say, Sham 69 are not underrated compared to droves of other bands.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 05:04 (twenty years ago)

Sham 69 may be underrated, but they are also dreadful.

Subway Sect wins.

― bham, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 06:50 (twenty years ago)

were the embarrassment british? if so, they win.

― nicholas de jong (nicholas de jong), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 06:54 (twenty years ago)

"ireland is part of great britain!"

NO IT FECKIN' ISN'T!

NORTHERN Ireland is part of the UNITED KINGDOM!

There were thousands of British (and UK) punk bands; many of whom released absolutely nothing; many of whom released 1 or 2 singles on independent labels with little or no distribution and disappeared; and people are seriously nominating The Jam, Sham 69 (and The Undertones) - two (or three) of the most comercially successful artists to emerge from the British (or UK) Punk scene as being the most underrated?!?

I'm voting for the Pseudo Existors.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:12 (twenty years ago)

CRAVATS, ZOUNDS

― huell howser (chaki), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:17 (twenty years ago)

Subway Sect.

or..

Rudimentary Peni.

― Ellis, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:20 (twenty years ago)

both of those bands are highly reknowned/ recognized as great bands.

― huell howser (chaki), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:21 (twenty years ago)

satan's rats

― cb, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:22 (twenty years ago)

Cravats.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:25 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, ok.

So Rudimentary Peni are more recognized than Sham69 or The Jam or The Undertones..?

And you sure hear a lot of people discussing the "ep's of r.p" album, eh..?

Good one, pal.

― Ellis, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:29 (twenty years ago)

i see kids with Peni shirts all the time. they sell them im hot topic.

― huell howser (chaki), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:31 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, ok.

Rudimentary Peni more popular with da kidz and critically acclaimed by da criticz than The Jam shockah !

― Ellis, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:35 (twenty years ago)

show me a CRAVATS SHIRT or THREAd

― huell howser (chaki), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:38 (twenty years ago)

From Hot Topic.com

Try limiting your rudimentary peni search to: Go

We did not find any items for your search.

Try using a more generic term, for example, "pants" or "dress"
to broaden your search and increase the number of item

Do they sell Rudimentary Peni sweatpants and sneakers too..?

― Ellis, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:40 (twenty years ago)

they have diff stuff at the store than on the website.

― huell howser (chaki), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:46 (twenty years ago)

I think you might be right.

I heard Reebok were bringing out a Flux Of Pink Indians sneaker to compete with the G. Unit sneaker that Hot Topic will only be selling in their store and not on their website.

― Ellis, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 09:48 (twenty years ago)

― huell howser (chaki), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:00 (twenty years ago)

The Vibrators
The Drones
The Flys

― zeus, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:01 (twenty years ago)

Rudimentary Peni VS Flux of Pink Indians
Vic Godard And The Subway Sect
Vic Godard/Subway Sect: Classic Or Dud?

Find threads from I Love Music, subject contains 'cravats'.

None found

Find threads from I Love Music, subject contains 'zounds'.

None found

― huell howser (chaki), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:03 (twenty years ago)

UK Subs! UK Subs!

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:07 (twenty years ago)

"I heard Reebok were bringing out a Flux Of Pink Indians sneaker"

And the puppet punks parted with their hard earned cash
To buy the exploiter's rip-off trash
Unable to see that these people only sell shit
As long as the people are willing to buy it.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:08 (twenty years ago)

"Find threads from I Love Music, subject contains 'zounds'.

None found"

They may not be mentioned in the thread titles but I can certainly remember having discussed them here before more than once....

Threads that contain the word "Zounds".

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:12 (twenty years ago)

the sex pistols

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:16 (twenty years ago)

"The Vibrators"

If we're assessing the extent to which a band is underrated as a fraction derived from the level of recognition received relative to each band's activity / output; rather than as an absolute; then Knox & Eddie win must surely the "Most Underrated British Punk Band" title hands down.

http://www.thevibrators.com/images/news_01.jpg

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:20 (twenty years ago)

"ireland is part of great britain!"

-- J.D. (aubade8...), August 3rd, 2005 6:38 AM. (later)

"the sex pistols"

-- J.D. (aubade8...), August 3rd, 2005 12:16 PM. (later)

Well, there's certainly a high level of consistency in your thought processes, since I would humbly suggest that, as British punk bands go, Sex Pistols are / were "underrated" to precisely the same extent that Ireland is part of Great Britain.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:27 (twenty years ago)

oh, lighten up for god's sake.

for the record, even tho my nomination was clearly intended as a joke, the sex pistols are certainly underrated as musicians.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 10:41 (twenty years ago)

Dude, just 'cause there isn't a ilm thread on The Cravats doesn't mean anything. I see kids in Cravats t-shirts all the time. They sell them in Wal Mart in The U.S and Top Shop in the U.K. I don't think they sell them on their websites though.

I agree that The Cravats are pretty obscure but they aren't exactly underrated because for them to be underrated they'd have to be good.

Which they aren't. And Zounds were terrible.

― Ellis, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 11:04 (twenty years ago)

This is a stupid thread.

sigh. so what does underrated mean, anyway?
-No one has ever heard of them but you like them
-People have heard of them but think they're "shite" as the brits say
-Critics love them but they aren't a a household word
-You want to talk about your favorite band, but no one cares

― Draw Tipsy, ya hack. (dave225.3), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 11:05 (twenty years ago)

".... even tho my nomination was clearly intended as a joke...."

Following on, as it did, from your confident assertion that "ireland is part of great britain!" I'd suggest that the only indication I had pointed extremely clearly to the contrary.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 11:17 (twenty years ago)

The Tights

― flowersdie (flowersdie), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 11:30 (twenty years ago)

Magazine

― paulhw (paulhw), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

I nominate the Adverts and X-Ray Spex.

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

One more for The Vibrators

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 12:30 (twenty years ago)

The RUTS

Not around (lead singer ODed) to remind the world how good they were.

― steve ketchup, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 12:53 (twenty years ago)

The Ruts, Adverts, and Rezillos are neck and neck...all typically punkish, but with style and spirit of their own and beyond the trite stereotypes of three chords and safety pins.

― aleatora, Wednesday, 3 August 2005 13:11 (twenty years ago)

Blitzkrieg Bop

for Life is Just a So-So, UFO and Let's Go.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 13:33 (twenty years ago)

oh yeah, and the Prefects.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 13:40 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 110 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Nice!!

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Saturday, 24 September 2005 12:26 (twenty years ago)

The Au Pairs

― casey (t. fiend), Saturday, 24 September 2005 20:01 (twenty years ago)

One Brit punk band that could not ever be underrated enough was X Ray Spex. Poly Styrene (hilarious name! Ha ha ha!) was a real 'care in the community' case with absolutely no talent whatsoever, a terrible voice, a terrible live performer, awful songs and possibly the ugliest singer in the entire universe! I was in London during '78 and saw them live. They sucked! The elephantine Poly was spraying water over the front few rows and during this, got the stage so wet that she slipped over on her fat ass! Great! The highlight of the 19 minute show! I spit on their memory!

― Peter Menson, Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

And while I'm at it - what about The Motors! They sucked dick bigtime! An ugly bunch of pub rock failures jumping on every bandwagon that waved its fanny at them! Fuck them and their families!

― Peter Menson, Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

http://minipainting-guild.net/crap/CRAPPY~2.JPG

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

Thanks for your interesting observations, Peter.

Idiot.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:38 (twenty years ago)

Oh Peter Up Yours

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

three months pass...

This....
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007W0KKQ/qid=1136548574/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-0872276-9564415

...is a major cause of celebration, at least in my house. Alright it's not a proper nuggets-style crate digging exercise, but they have had a good trawl through the Rabid/TJM catalogue and improved the sound quality on some really cracking stuff like The Out's 'Who Is Innocent' (but where's b-side 'Linda's Just A Statue'?). Also most of the TJM comp 'Identity Parade' is on here, which means goodies like the Steroid Kiddies 'Seaside Teaser'and Eddie Mooney's great powerpop 'I Bought Three Eggs'. There's also two tracks by The Teardrops (Steve Garvey and Karl Burns), Deaf School's outrageous speed-Roxy 'All Queued Up', the magnificent 'Naive' by proggers in disguise Public Zone (feat. Stewart Copeland!) and loads more.
Some of the comedy stuff is obv a trial and you'll never listen to Norman and The Hooligans or Richie Hale and The Stormers more than once, but hell...more like this please!!

― Dr.C (Dr.C), Friday, 6 January 2006 12:10 (twenty years ago)

IQ Zero is a real suprise, that's the more power-pop/punky single, less Devo then the stuff on Object Music.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 6 January 2006 15:54 (twenty years ago)

"One Chord Wanderers"?

Allardyce's no-nonsense tactics having a much broader effect than had previously been suspected.

― Tim (Tim), Friday, 6 January 2006 16:02 (twenty years ago)

The Out's 'Who Is Innocent' / 'Linda's Just A Statue' is indeed terrific.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 6 January 2006 16:02 (twenty years ago)

IQ Zero is a great track. I'm convinced that Who Is Innocent gave Hooky a few ideas for a bass-playing style.

― Dr.C (Dr.C), Friday, 6 January 2006 16:09 (twenty years ago)

I still think The Cravats should win the prize here.

I wanna hear those Small Wonder Demon Preacher etc. singles pretty badly. Also the one with "Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart", I forget who that was right now.

― sleeve (sleeve), Friday, 6 January 2006 17:12 (twenty years ago)

xpost well they were both manc bands, so it's quite possible.

Other noticeable ones:

"Gerry and the Holograms" self titled, very like "Blue Monday"
"Increased Resistance" it's b-side very like "Murder"

And, "Dancing Doctors" The Freshies is not dissimilar to "Every Day is like Sunday" the Mozzer.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 6 January 2006 17:26 (twenty years ago)

> Also the one with "Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart", I forget who that was right now.

That'd be Patrik Fitzgerald

― Niall, Friday, 6 January 2006 18:22 (twenty years ago)

let's hear it for Absurd Records(that's what it's called?)...Gerry and the Holograms s/t single, the unlistenable(even moreso) single where it was glued to the sleeve(don't have that one...) Blah Blah Blah "I'm In the Army Now" or something, Eddie Fiction's song about UFOs and the GREAT GREAT GREAT "Snap It Around" by 48 Chairs.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 6 January 2006 18:51 (twenty years ago)

Pretty much every record I've ever heard on Small Wonder is great.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 6 January 2006 21:53 (twenty years ago)

three months pass...

HOT TOPIC IS 4 FAGS!

― JAKAL, Friday, 7 April 2006 19:36 (nineteen years ago)

IS THERE TRULY NO MENTION OF THE DESPERATE BICYCLES ON THIS WHOLE THREAD.

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Friday, 7 April 2006 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

well there's ilm in a nutshell

― A|ex P@reene (Pareene), Friday, 7 April 2006 22:51 (nineteen years ago)

they've got their own thread...

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 7 April 2006 23:21 (nineteen years ago)

Nice to see Dan giving the post-Brian James Damned their due.

Machine Gun Ettiquette, The Black Album and Strawberries were probably the strongest trio of albums made by any of the original punk bands outside of the first three Wire albums.

― Jeff K (jeff k), Friday, 7 April 2006 23:48 (nineteen years ago)

Since nobody mentioned them, and I like them, I'm going to say The Art Attacks.

I was also wondering how long this thread could go before somebody finally mentioned the Desperate Bicycles.

― xgurggleglgllg (xgurggleglgllg), Saturday, 8 April 2006 00:41 (nineteen years ago)

chron-gen.

― kwhitehead (stephen schmidt), Saturday, 8 April 2006 01:19 (nineteen years ago)

The Cravats still win :)

― sleeve (sleeve), Saturday, 8 April 2006 01:21 (nineteen years ago)

I really really really love a few of the Art Attacks songs but not enough to warrant such superlatives...and I totally fucking love the Tagmenics single. Funny thing is I emailed with somebody at Overground who put out the CD and he said they all just tacked that on but didn't care as much for it. I wouldn't say post-punkers and new wavers wouldn't like the Art Attacks, but I can see them skipping over the CD as more straight punk, and if so, they should definately check it out for those tracks. Chimneys is on a volume of Messthethics, but the other tracks, esp (Do the) Big Baby which is a totally fun punker with synth flourishes.

Has anyone mentioned the Prefects yet?

Oh yeah, I did. They really deserve more acclaim. They were there pretty early on, were so punk rock they didn't put out any records untill after they broke up, Bernard Rhodes said they were amateur wankers, they appear uncredited on the recording of We Oppose All Rock-N-Roll with the Subway Sect and the Slits, etc.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 8 April 2006 02:05 (nineteen years ago)

That Prefects compilation is wonderful. I had never heard of them before but they remind me of a combination of Wire and the Swell Maps.

― Jeff K (jeff k), Saturday, 8 April 2006 02:19 (nineteen years ago)

thanks. they have a new (old) live CD out on a new UK label called Caroline True:

http://www.carolinetruerecords.co.uk/

They also put out the Nightingales "In the Old Country Way" CD and have some more cool stuff planned.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 8 April 2006 02:44 (nineteen years ago)

rezillos?

― latebloomer: someone's been drinking my youth! (latebloomer), Saturday, 8 April 2006 03:17 (nineteen years ago)

or does scottish count as britishes i forget im drunkish

― latebloomer: someone's been drinking my youth! (latebloomer), Saturday, 8 April 2006 03:18 (nineteen years ago)

I'm glad Chron-Gen were mentioned as I was going to try to hear them about a month ago and then completely forgot about it.

I do feel the Damned are a far better band than I gave them credit for when I first heard them 20 years ago.

That "White Dopes On Punk" comp. looks really appealing. Unfortunately I've already spent far more money on music right now than I'd planned. I think I can fairly easily convince my friend to buy it, though.

― Porcupine Kiss, Novacaine Lips (Bimble...), Saturday, 8 April 2006 04:28 (nineteen years ago)

The current Nightingales line-up is almost the Prefects : Alan Apperley, Lloyd and Eammon Duffy are in the band.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Saturday, 8 April 2006 06:04 (nineteen years ago)

I still stand by what I said upthread.

― The Equator Lounge (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 8 April 2006 06:15 (nineteen years ago)

Robert Lloyd is going through drummers like Spinal Tap. Fuzz from Pop WIll Eat Itself was playing for a bit but left to rejoin a reunited Poppies, was replaced by the excellent Aaron from Volcano the Bear who left to, among other things marry my friend whom he met when I had her band open up for the 2nd Nightingales show in NYC!

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 8 April 2006 12:55 (nineteen years ago)

Skimming through the thread, I don't think anyone's mentioned Warsaw Pakt yet. Their main claim to notoriety was recording, pressing and releasing their lone album, Needle Time all within a couple of days. Needle Time is great too - very much influenced by the MC5.

The Users released a fantastic single, Sick of You, and never got as far as an album (as far as I know) but they also deserve to be remembered.

― Jeff K (jeff k), Saturday, 8 April 2006 13:19 (nineteen years ago)

Feck yes as being part british and of just being a punk and wishin that the old years would come back i say nominate THE JAM !!!!!!!!!!!

― TYLER RAYMOND DEEMER, Tuesday, 18 April 2006 22:17 (nineteen years ago)

The Jam weren't a punk band. They were a lot more and better than that.

Generation X were the most underrated British punk band.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 22:50 (nineteen years ago)

"They were a lot more and better than that."

Because punk was such a limited thing? Is that it, Geir?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 22:54 (nineteen years ago)

Geir, do you like OMD?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 23:05 (nineteen years ago)

My opinion of the Damned has gone way, way up. I used to think of them almost as a comedy act back in the day. But now I believe they were the best band of the era. Well, maybe it's between them, Wire and the Subway Sect.

― Richard Kirkbride (ibreakforsmallanimals), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 23:21 (nineteen years ago)

After scrolling through this whole page I was glad to hear mention of the Art Attacks. I reckon these guys are (were?) the epitome of the 'spirit of '77'. Desperate Bicycles are a bit hard to rate either way 'cause they only released one single (I thought it was good enough to nick the melody and the guitar rythm (of 'Smokescreen') for one of my own songs though.

― DuD, Sunday, 30 April 2006 18:05 (nineteen years ago)

Score one fer me!

― xgurggleglgllg (xgurggleglgllg), Monday, 1 May 2006 05:56 (nineteen years ago)

one single? try again.

― Jack Cole (jackcole), Monday, 1 May 2006 07:30 (nineteen years ago)

Desp Bikes released 4 singles, a 5 song ep, an LP, and a single under the name The Evening Outs. Their sound and line-up shifted through this, creating what I think to be one of the more interesting legacies of the era.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 1 May 2006 07:36 (nineteen years ago)

and as always, i thank dan for letting me finally hear the bikes.

― Jack Cole (jackcole), Monday, 1 May 2006 07:38 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

Anyway, can I change my vote, I'm going for Doll by Doll, really liked hearing the first album again now its re-issued - I'd not paid much attention to their other albums at the time - and they aren't as good as the first one.

― Sandy Blair, Sunday, 2 September 2007 21:35 (eighteen years ago)

Were 'Doll By Doll' ever a punk band? Really?

― Soukesian, Monday, 3 September 2007 21:26 (eighteen years ago)

Well, see my comments above, basically, what qualified as a 'punk band' in 1978 was much wider than what would qualify now. They were gigging on the circuit (I saw them supporting Ultravox!) and were pretty aggressive, especially the last song they did (Palace of Love).

The first Doll by Doll album is at least as punk as the 1st Psychedelic Furs, or Killing Joke albums - depending on your definition of punk, this may mean 'not very'.

― Sandy Blair, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 06:59 (eighteen years ago)

Well, yes. Definitions, definitions . . I would have said New Wave at the time, but I never saw them.

I do remember them being VERY highly rated indeed by critics, though. It was just the record buying public that didn't seem too bothered.

― Soukesian, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 08:00 (eighteen years ago)

I think The Stranglers should be viewed as the best band from that era, and they aren't (for mainly political/ageist reasons) so I say, by George, that they are the most underrated British punk band.

― PhilK, Tuesday, 4 September 2007 09:16 (eighteen years ago)

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